About

These are a series of twenty-four professionally produced pedagogical lectures on DVD, introducing modern cosmology through a focus on two of its most fascinating aspects: dark matter and dark energy. The kind of matter with which we are familiar — atoms and molecules, and indeed every particle we have ever created in a laboratory — only makes up about 5% of the universe. Another 25% is dark matter, a kind of particle that is massive and weakly interacting. The remaining 70% is dark energy, which is not even a particle — it’s a smoothly-distributed energy field that remains persistent in density even as the universe expands. The quest to understand dark matter and dark energy is the most important task of twenty-first century cosmology.

The lectures are meant for anyone with a curious mind, regardless of their background. No prior familiarity with physics or astrophysics is assumed. We start with the fundamental ideas of relativity and particle physics, work our way up to the astonishing discoveries of modern observational cosmology, and dig deeply into speculative ideas about what dark matter and dark energy might be telling us about the nature of space, time, and matter. The lectures can be enjoyed by anyone, taken at whatever pace is most comfortable; full lecture transcripts are also available, as well as an extensive reading list and questions relating to each lecture.

Contents

Here are the titles of each of the lectures, to give you an idea of what you will learn.

Fundamental Building Blocks

The Smooth, Expanding Universe

Space, Time, and Gravity

Cosmology in Einstein’s Universe

Galaxies and Clusters

Gravitational Lensing

Atoms and Particles

The Standard Model of Particle Physics

Relic Particles from the Big Bang

Primordial Nucleosynthesis

The Cosmic Microwave Background

Dark Stars and Black Holes

WIMPs and Supersymmetry

The Accelerating Universe

The Geometry of Space

Smooth Tension and Acceleration

Vacuum Energy

Quintessence

Was Einstein Right?

Inflation

Strings and Extra Dimensions

Beyond the Observable Universe

Future Experiments

The Past and Future of the Dark Side

Commentary/Reviews

Comments on the course, from email or elsewhere.

“Whew! What can I say. This type of lecture is what The Teaching Company is all about. Does it get any better than this?” —Doug van Orsow

“We started watching the lectures this week and I was not disappointed. It is so rare to find someone like Sean, a person able to communicate difficult science concepts effectively, and there’s nothing more counterintuitive and difficult as dark energy and an expanding universe.”–Tony Darnell

“I was literally on the edge of my seat every second and would have gladly paid for and watched 10 times as many lectures.” –Russ Ravella

Additional Resources

Unfortunately I don’t have time to answer individual questions about the lectures, but there are other places to go for help.